Pakistan Elections Likely To Be Delayed

Sources Tell CBS News Vote Will Wait 4-9 Weeks; New Video Raises Doubts About Cause Of Bhutto's Death

(CBS/AP)  Elections in Pakistan look set to be delayed by several weeks despite demands by the party of slain opposition leader Benazir Bhutto and other politicians they take place as scheduled on Jan. 8, officials said Monday.

Sources inside the Pakistani government say the election will likely be pushed back at least four weeks, and possibly as many as eight or nine, CBS News chief foreign correspondent Lara Logan reports.

The Election Commission said it had recommended an unspecified delay in the parliamentary polls following unrest triggered by the assassination of opposition leader Bhutto last week. It said its final decision would be made on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, new video of Bhutto's killing raised new questions about the government's version of how she died, while the country's most prominent living opposition politician urged U.S-backed President Pervez Musharraf to step down Monday and be replaced by a national unity government.

"He is a one man calamity," former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif told reporters. "The United States should see that Musharraf has not limited or curbed terrorism. In fact terrorism is now stronger than ever before with more sinister aspects.

Separately, a senior government official predicted the elections would be postponed by "six weeks or so as the environment to hold free and fair elections is not conducive." The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to disclose the information.

Despite being in mourning, Bhutto's political party and that of Pakistan's other major opposition leader want the polls held on time, perhaps sensing major electoral gains are possible amid sympathy at Bhutto's death and accusations that political allies of President Pervez Musharraf were behind the killing. The government has rejected the charges.

Western governments are also urging the government to go ahead with the polls without major delays. They see the elections as a key step in U.S.-backed plans to restore democracy to the nation as it battles Taliban and al Qaeda militants.

Bhutto was killed in a suicide bomb and gun attack on Thursday, but disagreements between her supporters and the government over the precise cause of death are undermining confidence in Musharraf and adding to calls for international investigators to probe the killing.

The video footage, obtained by Britain's Channel 4, shows a man firing a handgun at Bhutto from close range as she stands up in an open-topped vehicle. Her hair and shawl then move upward, suggesting she may have been shot. She then falls into the vehicle just before an explosion rocks the car.

The government has insisted Bhutto was not hit by any of the bullets and died after the force of the blast slammed her head against the sunroof. Bhutto's family and supporters say she died from gunshot wounds to her head and neck.

Bhutto's husband said late Sunday he refused permission for doctors to perform an autopsy, meaning that short of exhuming her body - something her supporters have already ruled out - the cause of her death will be difficult to establish.

After days of rioting that left at least 44 dead, life in many Pakistani cities began returning to normal, though soldiers and police patrolled many areas. The streets were still quiet in the southern city of Karachi, the scene of some of the worst violence, witnesses said.

On Sunday, Bhutto's political party officially named her 19-year-old son, Bilawal Zardari, as its symbolic leader and left day-to-day control to her husband, extending Pakistan's most enduring political dynasty. Bilawal also announced he was changing his last name to Bhutto.

Logan first reported the decision to make Bilawal, a 19-year-old student at England's Oxford University, the Pakistan People's Party leader on Saturday.

"My mother always said democracy is the best revenge," he said late Sunday at an emotionally charged media conference at Bhutto's ancestral home. "The party's long struggle for democracy will continue with renewed vigor," he said.

Bhutto's party also appealed to the party of former Prime Minister Sharif to reverse an earlier decision to boycott the polls. Sharif's party later agreed.

Tariq Azim, a spokesman for the pro-Musharraf Pakistan Muslim League-Q party, congratulated the decision not to seek a delay in the vote and said "we are also ready for the contest on Jan. 8." Earlier, he predicting the election may be delayed up to four months.

The appointment of Bhutto's husband, Asif Ali Zardari, as effective leader was not without complications. A former Cabinet minister who spent eight years in prison on corruption accusations, he is known as "Mr. 10 Percent" for allegedly taking kickbacks and is viewed with suspicion by many Pakistanis.

Zardari said the opposition party - Pakistan's largest - had no confidence in the government's ability to bring his wife's killers to justice and urged the United Nations to establish a committee like the one investigating the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Several leading U.S. politicians have made similar calls.

The British and U.S. governments had been pushing Bhutto, a moderate Muslim seen as friendly to the West, to form a power-sharing agreement with Musharraf after the election - a combination seen as the most effective in the fight against al Qaeda, which is believed to be regrouping in the country's lawless tribal areas.

haP2 You are so right but it did "Spur" you to submit a comment where you may be spurned.

[edward1975-2009]

Who didn''t see this happening. It was just a matter of time. What did she honestly think she was going to accomplish. Now she is a martyr just like her father was. And what a shame. Maybe in a different world she would have been safe. But there was a reason she was in exile. Now it throws a country in turmoil even farther into the abyss. Truly sad.

[hap2]

So you write the "videos ''spurn''? ''Spurn''? It''s off usage. A lover gets rejected or spurned. But the vidoe just does not spurn anything.

[earth561]

AntiZion

Watch it ! I am one of those 4000 with a Pentium-ZioJoo-Quantum-Brain-Capititator. You might be wise to know since I control all things on earth I also know your whereabouts.
I can see you typing away in your basement eating Cheetos while your mom is upstairs making your bed.Go to sleep early tonight and try not to stay awake too late as I''m going to take you away ha..to the funny farm, where oats and doats......
"BTW - The CFR is 4000 of the most powerful Jews on Earth. "

"Just continue to let the Jews count your votes for you, everything will be "under control."

[feelfree1]

washingtontimes.com is reporting that Bhutto''s entourage attempted to solicit security services from the mass-murderers and terrorists-for-rent of Blackwater USA.

Goes to show that negotiating with terrorists, especially for security services, can be very bad for ones health.

[lil_willie61]

earth561-
Thank you, thank you, thank you.

[tylenol6]

BBC censored Mrs. Bhutto''s claim that Bin Laden was
dead.....Hmmmm.............

[fibonacci_]

Happy new year to all the CBSNews posters - everybody! All the best for 2008.

[klifton2-2009]

Democracy might be the best revenge but make sure that it is a democracy that is appropriate for the people of Pakistan. Democracy, like ice-cream, comes in various flavors. Wholesale import of Western style democracy is a sure recipe for disaster. The democracy in the West, particularly in the US, does not work. Democracy must be equated with responsibility and accountability, which is lacking in the US political system. Social stability, food, security, jobs come first. Democracy will follow. The other way around has never worked. Bhutto''s son would be ill advised place democracy above all else.

[antizion]

BTW - The CFR is 4000 of the most powerful Jews on Earth.

[antizion]

The problem with dictators is not in obtaining them, it is getting rid of them.

It will be interesting to see how Bush is going to hand power to a trusted member of the club without the people rising up over why their Ron Paul votes did not get counted. The US government loses more credibility over this one issue more than any other.

Just continue to let the Jews count your votes for you, everything will be "under control."

[kaelinda]

Now, just WHO is surprised by the governments not-quite-yet-but-absolutely-certain delay of parliamentary elections? Anybody? Musharraf isn''t about to allow the mere citizens to move his cronies out of parliament. That smacks too much of democracy, which Musharraf can''t tolerate.

[earth561]

For all you historical Einsteins out there.

I don''t mind hearing a different opinion but Jeezus !...would you please stop with this Bush+Hitler Crp ! If you actually think that Bush equals hitler even 10% than I suggest picking up a BOOK about the subject matter or maybe going to the Holoacaust Museum in DC instead of reading off Ward Churchills web site or listening to some wet nosed college grad who just found out who the Axis powers last week.
Its whitewashes who Hitler was and the atrocities he did to mankind.

[downsteamjim]

It''s a shame that the evil George Bush allowed Mushariff to overthrow the government of Pakistan. I know Clinton was President then, but Bush is all powerful.

[hungry1968]

Yup, he''''s right all funded by the Democrat Controlled Congress!

Posted by hillaryin08 at 04:52 PM : Dec 31, 2007



Do you realize that you have posted NOTHING all day long, yet you type away like a crazed fool?

Bush got his funding for the war because the democrats are cowards. Congratulations - now Bush can have more American troops murdered for nothing to do with America.

[hillaryin08]

You know IF you''''d trash that swastika you love so much and LISTEN up, you''''d find out a few things. Now THESE are facts Swastika Breath!! 1) The War in Iraq has NOTHING to do with the attacks on this nation. The "Al Queda" that formed in Iraq did so only AFTER we attacked that Country and was NOT involved with Bin Laden BEFORE that attack. 2) Bin Laden was allowed to slip away because BUSH didn''''t care about him (he told us so) and hide in the Mountains of Pakistan. 3) Bin Laden rebuilt his organization to the level it was before the attack on this nation USING our invasion of Iraq to do so. Now these are all KNOW facts as provided by our OWN Intelligence. Please stop with the fascism and try JUST TRY to put the country ahead of the reich!! Sieg Heil Bush! Come on bootlicker, make the incompetent little MORON happy! Sing it out!! Sieg Heil Bush!!


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Posted by MCVet at 04:09 PM : Dec 31, 2007

Yup, he''s right all funded by the Democrat Controlled Congress!

[mcvet]

honestly whitman..i really doubt its terrorism that you care about nor anything else..all you care about is bashing Bush. may it be factual or allegation or hellucination.



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Posted by libsluvsuvs at 03:39 PM : Dec 31, 2007
+ report abuse

You know IF you''d trash that swastika you love so much and LISTEN up, you''d find out a few things. Now THESE are facts Swastika Breath!! 1) The War in Iraq has NOTHING to do with the attacks on this nation. The "Al Queda" that formed in Iraq did so only AFTER we attacked that Country and was NOT involved with Bin Laden BEFORE that attack. 2) Bin Laden was allowed to slip away because BUSH didn''t care about him (he told us so) and hide in the Mountains of Pakistan. 3) Bin Laden rebuilt his organization to the level it was before the attack on this nation USING our invasion of Iraq to do so. Now these are all KNOW facts as provided by our OWN Intelligence. Please stop with the fascism and try JUST TRY to put the country ahead of the reich!! Sieg Heil Bush! Come on bootlicker, make the incompetent little MORON happy! Sing it out!! Sieg Heil Bush!!

[j-whitman]

It''s the New Year in Iraq ---- Happy New Year to our troops.

[j-whitman]

libsluvsuvs,,
,,, The White House is now responsible for the deaths of 3 prisoners in our custody because of abusive treatment --
--- How well do you think it helps our efforts in the War on Terror or our National Security ?????
--- Al Queda has now filled the voids we counldn''t in North Africa & our Generals in Afaganistan are still wating for the troops they asked for 2 years ago

[j-whitman]

libsluvsuvs --- Try watching something other than Fox News